Zovirax News
Doctors testing herpes drug
Doctors testing a new type of drug to treat genital herpes.
The new drug, Zovirax, works differently from drugs now used to treat Herpes Simplex Virus. Zovirax inhibits a viral process called helicase-primase, which is needed to unravel DNA as the virus replicates. The existing drugs, acyclovir, valacyclovir and famciclovir, typically have limited effect — "about one-third reduction on symptoms with no effect whatsoever on the interval to the next outbreak".
An estimated 20 percent of the adult population has genital herpes, about half of them without symptoms. As many as 10 percent of the total have very problematic disease.
The new drug "appears to be very potent in preclinical studies, so we are enthusiastic about how it might perform in human patients in this clinical trial."
There is no guarantee, because sometimes drugs that look good in animal testing "have flopped" when tried in humans.
Some studies have also suggested that the new drug provides a longer interval before recurrence. Current drugs have no effect on recurrence. Zovirax also seems to have some effect on resistant virus. Although few people have resistant virus — primarily patients who are immunocompromised or have cancer — they have been hard to treat with existing medications. "It would be nice to see more improvement".
A blood test will be used to confirm that would-be participants have genital herpes. Enrollees must be at least 18 and have had four or more outbreaks in the past year. Exclusions include being immunocompromised or having significant underlying medical condition. Participants will be paid for time and travel. Two-thirds of enrollees will receive the active study medication, one-sixth will receive placebo and one-sixth valacyclovir, assigned randomly.
